ArmInfo.In January-November 2019, the gross international reserves of Armenia increased by 5.1% to $ 2.375 billion. In y-o-y terms (November 2019 compared to November 2018), this indicator increased by 12.1%.
According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, in the structure of reserves $ 2.368 billion are external assets in hard currency, which grew by 12.2% y-o-y, and by 5.1% in January-November alone. The share of SDR in the IMF amounted to $ 7.1 million, having jumped by 2% y-o-y, with growth in January-November this year by 18.3%, with the sharpest jump observed in May and October.
During January-November, the decline in gross international reserves fell in January, April-July and November, and only in November the decline amounted to 3.8% with a similar decline in external assets in hard currency and the share of SDR in the IMF - by 14.4%. The Central Bank, having caused the November decline in gross international reserves as well as payments on servicing the state debt, added that the seasonal fluctuation of gross international reserves has historically also occurred in December, but already in the direction of growth.
As a comparison, we note that in January-November 2018, gross international reserves decreased by 8.5%. In their structure, foreign assets in hard currency decreased by 8.5%, and the share of SDR in the IMF decreased by 4.1%. The y-o-y dynamics at that time (November 2018 to November 2017) also showed a decline: gross international reserves - by 2.6%, including foreign assets in foreign currency - by 2.4% and the share of SDR in the IMF - by 41.4% . In November 2018, an increase in international reserves of 1.7% was triggered by an increase in foreign assets in hard currency by 1.4%) and a jump in the share of SDR in the IMF by 4.3 fold.
To recall,in 2018 the gross international reserves of Armenia decreased by 2.8%, with a similar decline in foreign assets in hard currency and a sinking share of SDR in the IMF by 17.5%. In the Q4 of 2018, gross international reserves grew by 4.6%, while foreign assets in foreign currency increased by 4.5% and the share of SDR in the IMF jumped 3.7 fold. During 2018, the upward dynamics of the gross international reserves was observed in July-September and in November-December, similar to the periods of growth of foreign assets in hard currency, and the share of SDRs in the IMF jumped in April and November alone. The share of banking gold in the gross international reserves of Armenia was zeroed back in December 2003.